Wednesday 5 May 2010

My very first blog post

... so I'll make it about a post, or, rather a marker.  Many years ago, when I took a Foundation Arts course in Dundee College of Commerce, a guy in my English Lit. class claimed to be a descendant of Grissel Jaffray, the last witch to be burned in Dundee.

Grissel was burned on the 11th of November 1669, and my classmate insisted that she had been buried in the Howff Graveyard.  He took me there one lunchtime and showed me a stone that he insisted was her grave marker.

Fast forward a few years and I mentioned this to a friend of mine who is also a tour guide.  She had heard of the legend that a witch was buried in the Howff, but couldn't see how someone accused of witchcraft could be buried in consecrated ground.  Frankly, neither could I, but I offered to show her the marker.

So, last Tuesday, when we both had some free time, we went to the Howff Graveyard, an area of land granted to the city of Dundee by Mary, Queen of Scots, and searched for the marker.  It took a while to find (it had been quite a few years since I last visited and it's not near a pathway) but I did find it when I was almost ready to give up.

Calling my friend over triumphantly,  I pointed to the stone.  Then we both did a double-take as we saw the pile of coins balanced on the top.
 
I have no explanation for that, and neither does she.  It was close to Walpurgisnacht (April 30th/May 1st).

Was it some kind of offering to the dead witch?  Had somebody left a coin on top of the post and others simply followed suit?  Is the explanation as simple as a gardener cutting the grass putting coins he found there to save them fouling the mower's blades?

I simply have no idea...
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2 comments:

  1. Black Spot8 May 2010 at 20:03

    I like mysteries and it's sometimes better not to find out the truth. It all adds to the story. Just think, this blog could start a story that goes around a few times and who knows what will happen to it in 10 years.

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  2. Witch8327 August 2013 at 00:46

    in reference to the coins thing, i was always told as a child and growing up to this day that putting a penny on the top of the marker and making a wish is what people did when they had found the marker.

    i do not know how true that actually is, but i have never doubted it, being born on halloween too prob doesnt help things either, i would have probably been burned as a witch too if it was still to happen.
    i was also lead to believe that this was the marker for a witch called elspet renkyn who was burned in 1658

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